Friday, November 1, 2013

A magistrate\'s court has ordered an enquiry into allegations of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of property levelled by the makers of the 1978 film Don against the makers of the 2011 film Don 2.

In 2011, Nariman Films partner Nadir Irani filed complaints against Don 2 co-producers Ritesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan. Irani\'s contention was Nariman Films gave remake rights only for the first instalment of Don, which released in 2006. Irani said the agreement expired in 2009 and that the makers had no right to make Don 2.

The matter dates back to 2005, when Nariman Films initially turned down an offer by the producers for the remake rights of the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer. Director Farhan Akhtar\'s father Javed, who was a close friend of the Iranis, later convinced them to part with the remake rights.

Irani said these rights were given only for Don and alleged Nariman Films was kept in the dark about Don 2. Nariman Films filed a civil suit alleging that Don 2 violated copyright laws by adopting the original Don\'s signature tune, songs, script, characters and music. Ahead of Don 2\'s release in December 2011, Irani approached the High Court seeking a stay on the film. The court did not grant the stay, saying theatres had already been booked. The company then filed a private complaint against the Don 2 production team, seeking the filing of an FIR.

On Thursday, the magistrate asked the police to make further inquiries into the private complaint and file a fresh report within 90 days. The magistrate passed the order under Section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows a magistrate who is not convinced an FIR should be filed to ask the police to first investigate the case and submit a report.